Keep off poll campaigns, clerics tell public servants
A group of religious leaders drawn from various denominations has urged public servants to keep off succession politics.
Without mentioning names, the clerics who were speaking yesterday at Ufungamano House in Nairobi said recent pronouncements by some Cabinet Secretaries were worrying as they appeared to support a particular political formation.
“As religious leaders, we have noted with a lot of concern the recent sentiments by some of our top civil servants. As a group we are worried and we are telling them to completely keep off partisan politics. We are concerned that if the trend continues the way it is, in the end, it will lead to conflict and many Kenyans will even question the objectivity of the polls,” warned General Secretary Evangelical Alliance of Kenya Nelson Makanda.
Makanda said some of the civil servants hold very sensitive offices which are very crucial to the management of the country.
Mucheru remarks
The comments come after Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) on Tuesday wrote a protest letter to the electoral commission demanding the resignation of ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru over alleged involvement in election campaigns.
UDA said Mucheru was openly campaigning for Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga and could use his docket to influence the outcome of the August 9 election.
In the letter received by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission yesterday, UDA secretary-general Veronica Maina cited Mucheru’s recent remarks that they “would ensure the elections are free and fair by making sure systems work”.
“In light of the foregoing, we write this protest letter to bring to your attention as the body mandated to conduct elections the remarks by the Cabinet Secretary for ICT and request that you look into the matter and guarantee all parties and Kenyans free and fair elections,” UDA said in the letter.
The clerics also asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to keep off succession politics.
They said the President is a symbol of national unity and should refrain from partisan politics.
